


Absurd Normalcy

by Ally_Rose



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 10:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ally_Rose/pseuds/Ally_Rose
Summary: After the battle of Starcourt Mall, everyone gets together to try and regain normalcy-or what is normal for them.





	Absurd Normalcy

After the gate was closed, everyone was brought to the hospital to be checked over. Most of them only had some cuts that needed to be cleaned up before they were told they could go. El needed to stay a little longer so they could fix her leg. Steve and Robin were admitted overnight due to the head trauma and mystery drugs in their systems.

Once El was released, Joyce brought all the kids back to her house. Nancy and Jonathan stayed with Steve and Robin to make sure they weren’t alone.

When they were discharged the next afternoon, Nancy offered to drive them home. She pulled into Steve’s driveway and noticed it was empty.

“Steve, are your parents home?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” he replied. “They’re vacationing on some island for like, all of July.”

Nancy and Jonathan exchanged a worried look as Steve started to exit the car. Jonathan got out as well and caught Steve as he stumbled. As they walked to the door Jonathan called out, “Hey Nance, why don’t you drive Robin home and I’ll stay here?”

Steve started to protest but was cut off by Robin asking, “Actually, would it be alright if I hung here for a little while?”

“Of course,” Steve answered.

They went into the living room and Steve laid on the large couch with his back against the arm. Robin sat on the other end, careful not to lean on her left side. The drugs from both the Russians and the real doctors were starting to wear off, and the pain from falling over strapped to Steve and their chairs was starting to bother her. Nancy gave both of them blankets, water, and pain medicine before joining Jonathan on the other couch.

An hour later Steve and Robin were napping, legs tangled between them. Nancy was asleep curled into Jonathan’s side. He had dozed off for a little while but found it hard to stay asleep. Suddenly the phone rang, and Jonathan rushed to grab it, thankful it was in arms reach so he could answer without disturbing his sleeping girlfriend.

Before he could say a word, he heard a voice over the line say, “Hey! Steve! It’s Dustin! Are you okay?”

“Hey Dustin, it’s Jonathan.”

“Jonathan, hi, what’s going on? It Steve alright? Is Robin?”

“Yea, everyone’s good here, just resting.” He looked around the room to check if that was still true. Everyone seemed like they were sleeping. “How’s everyone there?”

“Good, just hanging out.” Dustin paused for a moment and then said, “Your mom wants to talk to you.”

Jonathan heard indistinct voices in the background before his mother said, “Hey, honey, I have to run down to the station to take care of a few things.”

“Do you want me to come home and watch the kids?”

“If you could. And could you maybe grab some pizzas on the way.”

Jonathans next answer was cut off by a quiet voice saying, “Bring them here.” He looked over to see Steve was not as asleep as he had thought.

“Are you sure you’re up for that?”

“Bring the kids here,” he said more firmly.

And so, Jonathan ordered the pizzas, loaded the kids into the station wagon, and grabbed the food on his way back to the Harrington’s. Everyone settled into the living room to eat and watch the movie Nancy put on for them. They nibbled at their dinner, but no one’s appetite had returned yet. They talked among themselves, though conversations didn’t go more than a few sentences. They were too numb to discuss what had happened, but nothing else seemed important enough to talk about.

It was still relatively early when they pushed the coffee table aside and brought out more pillows and blankets to make beds for everyone on the floor. El and Max set up next to each other, with Mike and Lucas by their girls. Nancy and Jonathan joined the group to stay by their brothers. Steve started to suggest to Robin that she take the other couch but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. She needed to be with him, and he was glad. He didn’t want to separate from her either. Dustin set up his bed up against the couch in order to be near the pair.

Exhaustion helped them all fall asleep quickly but didn’t keep the nightmares away for any of them. They had been through too much to hope for a peaceful night of sleep. In turn, each person jolted awake from a bad dream. They expected to open their eyes and see the mind flayer, or an evil Russian, or a neighbor turning into goo. Instead, they opened their eyes and saw they were surrounded by friends. That was enough to comfort them back to sleep.

The next morning Steve woke to the sound of fighting. Or was it bickering? Yes, it was definitely the kids bickering over whose snoring kept them up all night and they yes, it was totally Dustin who slapped Will in his sleep even though they were on opposite sides of the room. Steve opened his eyes to see Robin leaning over the back of the couch looking down on him. “Get up dingus, your children are hungry.”

Steve smiled at the absurd normalcy of his current situation and followed her into the kitchen. He pointed out where to get bowls and spoons, opened the door to the walk-in pantry, and moved out of the way so the kids could all grab their favorite cereals. After getting their food, the kids ran back to the living room to fight over whose turn it was to pick what to watch on TV. Jonathan, Nancy, Robin, and Steve sat at the kitchen table with cold leftover pizza. They all smiled as the noise level in the other room continued to get higher. They would take this kind of chaos any day, if it meant their extended family was safe.


End file.
